Thursday, April 7, 2011

Barbour, Bryant lead in Mississippi

Mississippi Republicans want Haley Barbour to be their nominee for President next year, and he's doing far better in his home state than most of the other Republicans looking at the race are doing in theirs. 37% say Barbour is their first choice, followed by 19% for Mike Huckabee, 10% for Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, 6% for Mitt Romney, 5% for Michele Bachmann, 3% for Tim Pawlenty, and 2% for Ron Paul.

The only Republican we've found doing better in their home state so far is Romney, who 47% of Massachusetts GOP voters want as their nominee. Also matching Barbour's 37% was John Thune in South Dakota before he decided not to run. After that it's Paul Ryan at 30% in Wisconsin, Tim Pawlenty at 24% in Minnesota, Jim DeMint at 24% in South Carolina, Sarah Palin at 15% in Alaska, Gary Johnson at 13% in New Mexico, Rick Santorum at 11% in Pennsylvania, and Rick Perry at 9% in Texas. So on the curve Mississippi Republicans, who give Barbour an 85% approval rating, are pretty excited about their home state candidate.

Should Barbour end up not running or not making it all the way to the Mississippi primary Huckabee is the clear favorite in the state. In a Barbour less field he gets 35% to 20% for Palin, 18% for Gingrich, 8% for Romney, 5% for Bachmann, 4% for Paul, and 3% for Pawlenty.

We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be illegal to just 40% who think it should be legal. For the most part there aren't any huge divides in how voters view the candidates or who they support for the nomination based on their attitudes about interracial marriage but there are a few exceptions.

Palin's net favorability with folks who think interracial marriage should be illegal (+55 at 74/19) is 17 points higher than it is with folks who think interracial marriage should be legal (+38 at 64/26.) Meanwhile Romney's favorability numbers see the opposite trend. He's at +23 (53/30) with voters who think interracial marriage should be legal but 19 points worse at +4 (44/40) with those who think it should be illegal. Tells you something about the kinds of folks who like each of those candidates.

Lest there was any doubt Phil Bryant is the overwhelming favorite to be the GOP nominee for Governor. 63% of voters say they'd vote for him if the primary was today to 14% for Dave Dennis, 2% for Hudson Holliday, 1% for James Broadwater, and 0% for Ron Williams. Perhaps Broadwater needs Borat to come back to the state and go door to door telling voters about his, um, attributes.

72% of Republicans think that Roger Wicker is ideologically 'about right' to only 9% who think he's too liberal. Nevertheless in a hypothetical primary contest between him and a generic 'more conservative' alternative he leads by only a 40-39 margin. It just goes to show once again that no matter how conservative you are, for the Republican base it's almost impossible to be conservative enough. Still it's hard to imagine taking out Wicker becoming much of a Tea Party priority.

105 comments:

The paragraph breaking down candidate support by interracial marriage opinion really needs to be THE headline of the day, even ahead of the pretty stunning overall 46/40 split. (Also, 14% aren't sure? Jesus.)

Because you'd rather not know that some of the people who have a voice in deciding who runs the government are small minded bigoted schmucks?

If these people would just catch up with the latter half of the 20th century (I'm not even going to optimistic enough to ask for the 21st) we could stop asking these questions. Until then, I want to know what parts of the country are stuck in the 1800s.

The poll covered the legality of marriage, not dating. I could not immediately find data via Google that was specific to Mississippi or to Democrats, but regional data for the South (Altman & Klinker*) indicates that, even ten years ago, 86% of whites and 98% of non-whites supported legal interracial marriage. If that's representative of MS, too, and only 40% of MS 'Pubicans support it, ISTM the percentage of Dem supporters probably approaches 85-90%. Which makes it uninformative to poll it.

I have to think that number is so high in part because I'm sure some people thought you were asking about gay marriage. Why would any political pollster asking about Presidential candidates bring up the legality of interracial marriage? That's not a pertinent issue at all these days. Gay marriage quite obviously issue a huge issue in politics right now.

UNETHICAL POLLING. This is a cynical poll conducted by a Democratic polling organization to smear the Republican Party. PPP asked this poll with motive and knowing the response they would get. Democratic operatives will use this poll to frame a racial narrative to the upcoming election and scare minority voters and urban educated voters away from the GOP. It's pure cynical politics.

Editorial comment from the desk of Michael Santomauro: this is a sad commentary in the year 2011 (or any decade in the past) that folks would want to make illegal inter-racial marriage. What happened to freedom of association?

Excerpt:

We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be illegal to just 40% who think it should be legal. For the most part there aren't any huge divides in how voters view the candidates or who they support for the nomination based on their attitudes about interracial marriage but there are a few exceptions.

What made y'all think of the interracial marriage question? I wouldn't have even thought to ask that. I'm a young black dude living in Texas and even I'm surprised by the answer you got. Damn that's a revealing question.

How many "voters" were polled? And how was the poll conducted? I think if you poll ten people from backwoods mississippi and ask them a ridiculous question, you're going to get a ridiculous answer. I'm a democrat and think that these statements and polls are absurd. Inter-racial marriages will never be banned, it will never be a question. I personally know many black, hispanic, etc republicans, and interracial republican couples. I think we need to stop grabbing at straws to get the shock factor.

The findings are a little bit surprising since this is, after all, 2011 and not 1965. But I am not horribly shocked by the results. First, the white population in Mississippi is primarily Republican. They are still racist for the most part. It's shrouded in things like "I can't be a racist, I have a black friend!!!" But believe me, behind closed doors, the N word is flying like fireworks at a 4th of July picnic. How do I know this? I've served plenty of time in The South.

To the idiot, yes, IDIOT, who thinks that the people polled really thought they were being asked about gay marriage... WHY? Does gay marriage somehow sound just like interracial marriage? Besides, if you ask 100 Mississippians, black or white about gay marriage, I guarantee you, the number against it would be more like 80%. (maybe even higher) Nice try but get real.

May the party that harbors such bigots forever reap the whirlwind. Today, that party is the Republicans. Behold the misbegotten fruit of the Southern Strategy: a party of liberty become a party of hate!

It is perfectly legitimate that blacks in the south are overwhelmingly opposed to interracial marriage. But good gawd, don't let white parents who want their grandkids to look like them have an opinion in opposition to what the bloshevik left believe in. Hey progressives liberals, your grandparents were so much cooler, smarter, tougher and successful than you will ever be.

What I don't understand is what prompted PPP to ask this question in the first place. I cannot recall this question being asked on any other PPP poll, and certainly on none of the Alaska polls previously run.

Would PPP have asked this question if the poll had been conducted in a state outside the South?

I was born in Mississippi and spent most of my life there. This is a completely and totally inaccurate picture of the state that I know. Are there ignorant people there? Of course, but there are ignorant people everywhere.

"PPP surveyed 400 usual Mississippi Republican primary voters from March 24th to 27th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.9%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify."

This is what disturbs me. You obviously knew exactly what you were doing when you conducted this poll. You probably called people in extremely rural parts of the state to try to find the most ignorant people you could. I could no doubt call rural areas of New York, California or Illinois and get largely the same results. People like to scapegoat Mississippi because it takes eyes away from their own problems. When was the last time you saw a race riot in Mississippi? Ok, now when was the last time you saw one in LA? Or Cincinnati? Our problems are no worse than yours, so you might want to look in a mirror while you're looking down your noses.

you guys need to publish the Dem interracial marriage numbers ASAP so we can judge if this is a Mississippi problem or a Mississippi Republican problem.Without that information, those numbers are almost useless and i would certainly like to be able to use them to hammer some right wingers so let's hop to it, yo.

So some people think differently than you. Who cares? It's their right, after all. The great thing about America is having the freedom to express yourself. Once we try to limit the freedom of those we disagree with, then we ALL lose.

Why shouldn't it be illegal? Seriously. I'm not from the South. In fact, I'm from Berkeley, California. I grew up with multiculturalism. You know what? I'm not convinced. So convince me: why not make it illegal?

@anonymous april 7 at 9:23... The question is asked to bring the conversation to the full front. We need to ask these questions because if we don't racial inequity is constantly perpetuated! You should ask people wether or not they think Black people are inferior.. Clearly some work needs to be done.

I cannot believe anyone is surprised by this. When the GOP keeps saying they want to take the country back, what did you think they meant? This is part of it. Racism has always been rampant in this country, not just the south, but now it is acceptable in many circles because minorities have come to mean Muslim, Mexican illegals and Black. They are lumped together as teat sucking/terrorists on a regular basis. Look at any youtube video or news story that allows comments on anything regarding race and you will see hundreds and thousands of racist comments because they are anonymous. The worst part about this is that we had reached a point prior to 2000 when people did not see minorities as such bogeymen. In 2000 Alabama voted to make interracial marriages legal (yes it was still on the books as being illegal). I don't know if it was 9/11 or the the bad economy or what that created this down hill slide, but it is there for sure and the fact that the net offers an anonymous outlet for it feeds it. 20 years ago even if you were racist-you kept it to yourself. Not anymore.

Anon @ 5:25: You're reading the crosstab backwards. Of those who think interracial marriage should be legal, 87% approve of Barbour's job performance, etc. You read down, not across.

"This is what disturbs me. You obviously knew exactly what you were doing when you conducted this poll. You probably called people in extremely rural parts of the state to try to find the most ignorant people you could."

What about the statement in our release you quoted led you to those conclusions? We poll random samples of registered voters, which means they're distributed proportionately across the state.

@Anon from Berkeley: I'm in an interracial marriage and got married at a Methodist church in Berkeley. I'm not going to explain to you why my marriage deserves to be legal and why my children are legitimate. It's a terribly difficult-to-explain Big Secret.And it's such a damn shame that you were brought up in such a gorgeous place, rich with ideas, and you're having trouble figuring this out.

I have to say this is the most ridiculous poll I have ever seen! This question is specifically meant to cast Southern whites in a horrible light. Why not ask who among African Americans feels like they are still owed by the whites? Yes there are many ignorant white southerners but there are ignorant African Americans, Mexicans, Asians, ect. Every race has its share of ignorant people. I was born and raised in the south but believe marriage is the choice of the ones getting married, regardless of sex, race, or any other discriminatory factor. It is wrong for blacks of today to feel as though the whites still owe a debt to them. Their ancesters were not the only slaves in America (look up the Irish Slaves in America, I said slaves not indentured servants, do the research) I get so aggravated when people use the race card to try to turn one another agianst each other (readers against Republicans). How many Democrats are against this? I am sure there are plenty of them too. How many Republicans are for interacial marriage? Did you question everyone? No of course you didn't! You can not judge the entire south based on a few. Half 46% were against interacial marriage, well guess what 40% said they were for it. Half of your poll group. How can you then say that All Republicans are racist bigots when half of them clearly aren't? You know when I read the title I thought this would be interesting but clearly I was mistaken. No one is entitled to anything, please understand that.

I lived in Mississippi for 20 years. I worked at the states biggest employer. Through the years met many people of all colors and ages and ways of life. Mississippi has the most ignorant and out of date people than any where I ever been. I've lived in 9 states. The good old boys in Mississippi still have Rebbel flags in rear truck windows. Spit cups are full sitting on dash boards full of tobacco juice. There moon shine and Meth production is huge and there wives still go bare footed with long stringy dirty hair. They vote there brother-in-laws in as politicians so they can illegally hunt wild game and manufactor drugs. They hate racial marriages and can not stand the fact that most mixed marriages are stable and quiet. Most of them inter breed and retardation rate is very high. Most sleep with there teachers in school and a big percentage finish school because to keep scandal down. The elected officials care more about deer hunting and illegal operations of there crops and farm land.. I can go on and on but the bottom line is that any pools taken there should not even be considerd in any way shape or form.

As a Mississippian I can tell you honestly that the 40% of conservatives who don't think it should be illegal do not approve of it, either. They just don't feel a law is necessary as they've raised their children better than that. If you think this sounds odd, I personally invite you liberals to spend a month in Jackson and THEN make up your mind on the subject... once you have the specific experience which would qualify you to make such a judgement. I particularly enjoyed the fascist opinion above which suggested that the citizens of my state not be entitled to govern themselves. That type of hypocritical doublespeak from radical liberals is precisely why the people of this country are about to once again be forced to issue a check on Constitutional liberties and entitlement.

Hunh?! What kind of stupid question is this?! WTH cares how many people in MS or BFE think interracial marriage should be illegal? The issue is MOOT. With Loving vs. Virginia the SCOTUS decided the legality of the interracial marriage issue in favor of legalizing it and striking down any and all anti-miscegenation laws nationwide OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO! Why is the poll asking this stupid a question? To beat a dead, rotting horse carcass or create more racial conflict and mischief to blame on Republicans.

What next? It's not okay just to legalize interracial marriage and leave it at that? Can we expect you people to call out the national guard and authorize force to push unwilling whites into marriage with non-whites at gunpoint to desegregate their bedrooms just the way you did their schools back in the fifties?!

>>Why would any political pollster asking about Presidential candidates bring up the legality of interracial marriage?

You obviously haven't tried traveling as an interracial couple in the south. It would be nice if there was support for the marriages that are already legal, but not getting served in rural diners, etc. etc. certainly make the question pertinent.

Of course the interracial marriage question is relevant - after all, our current President came about as the result of an interracial marriage. Questions that come out of left field often get more honest answers. The poll shows the racism inherent in some (especially Southern) GOP voters. This accounts for a lot of the racially-based jibes directed at Pres. Obama ("Obama bucks" during the campaign; Tea Party protest signs showing him as a witch doctor, etc.)

>>So some people think differently than you. Who cares? It's their right, after all. The great thing about America is having the freedom to express yourself. Once we try to limit the freedom of those we disagree with, then we ALL lose.

I recommend that you take a good class in civics. This isn't about having an opinion about interracial marriage, it's about the legality. The legality is well-established by the Constitution. What you and these people are saying is that the Constitution doesn't matter, discrimination is fine. This would work well in Iran, but this is the US and the Constitution is the law of the land, not you and your friends in Mississippi.

Several years ago, while in college, I took a course in Genetics. I learned that a couple cannot, under any circumstances, have a white baby if the parents are from different races. This includes Asian and African mixed marriages. If you love your white heritage, as I do, this is a no-brainer.

I wouldn't put much stock in the age crosstabs. There's a 14.1% margin of error on the 18-29 subsample, for example.

"Several years ago, while in college, I took a course in Genetics. I learned that a couple cannot, under any circumstances, have a white baby if the parents are from different races. This includes Asian and African mixed marriages. If you love your white heritage, as I do, this is a no-brainer."

Interracial marriage should be kept legal for a little while longer, we need to get rid of some more of the white trash out there.Make it illegal in a short while.

The Mantra

"Everybody says there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY white country and ONLY into white countries."

"The Netherlands and Belgium are more crowded than Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them."

"Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY white country and ONLY white countries to "assimilate," i.e., intermarry, with all those non-whites."

"What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-blacks were brought into EVERY black country and ONLY into black countries?"

"How long would it take anyone to realize I'm not talking about a RACE problem. I am talking about the final solution to the BLACK problem?"

"And how long would it take any sane black man to notice this and what kind of psycho black man wouldn't object to this?"

"But if I tell that obvious truth about the ongoing program of genocide against my race, the white race, Liberals and respectable conservatives agree that I am a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews."

Just when I was thinking about kissing every white man I came across, especially if he was a Republican. WHO IS SURPRISED????If only they could just go out to the slave quarters and do whatever they wanted without reprisal, all would be well with the world--- We did not come of our own acord, but were forced to build this country as slave laborers and despite all we have gone through, we have endured AND ARE HERE TO STAY---Yours in the Continued Struggle-

Think about it, the republicans claim to be about small government, but here they are trying to have the government tell you who you can and cannot marry. Who cares man, it's not going to happen, the effin president is from an interracial marriage. These people can kiss my arse.

I have to question your methods and tactics on this poll and your release of findings.

I will start by stating I was intrigued by your idea to ask about interracial marriage. I didn't know that it was a 45 year old Mississippi law making interracial marriage legal. In addition, I must agree with you that the concept of "interracial" and "gay" marriage can be confused, is near impossible. But I believe that is where we differ.

1) You stated earlier, "BTW, we did ask this interracial marriage question of everyone, not just Republicans, but we'll be releasing the full results on that at a later date." When is this later date? An inspection of your website (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/surveys.asp) shows that you have published at least a dozen Republican polls since March 1 and only one Democratic poll during that time. I have to question your sincerity that you will actually publish the Democratic party members content at a later time. This leads me to my second point.

2) Why publish opposing political party poll results, that were conducted at the same time, at seperate times? Wouldn't a better comparison of registered party voters in the state of Mississippi be achieved when both party poll results are presented at the same time? This is where I question you will actually publish the results of the Democratic party poll results based on the precedent on your website.

3) Should pollsters, like yourself, editorialize in presenting their findings? You have stated, "I don't think minorities could possibly vote any less for the GOP than they already do." and "I can't decide if this is parody or true ignorance." and "If they don't (know what interracial means), well, that doesn't speak any more highly of them than the results do." When you wise-crack, belittle, or otherwise make fun of the subjects of your poll or those of us who comment, I believe it erodes your credibility as an unbiased journalist.

So, in the future I would suggest keeping your personal commentary unprejudiced unless you want to be considered to have an agenda. Just food for thought. Thanks, Matt

Is there one or more candidates from the GOP openly against interracial marriage and campaigning on it?

Let's imagine we're in Europe and a poll was done concerning multiculturalism and most people or a large number of people don't support it.

Is the point of the poll to inform politicians that it's time to end multiculturalism?

Is the point of the poll to make multiculturalism a point of debate in politics?

Is the point of the poll just to call them bigots?

What is your point for this poll question regarding interracial marriage? You can't separate the antecedent from the result. You had a motive for asking this question (I could only ever guess what it was).

Are you trying to build support to end interracial marriage, or is interracial marriage under attack from republican candidates in Miss., or are you just looking to call Republicans racists?

APRIL 7, 2011 11:41 PM - After having been pelted in the head with a rock, had relatives raped, neighbors killed, siblings beaten, and pregnant relations chased down the street... tell me why I shouldn't start to 'think critically'? Why shouldn't I ask for a little distance? I don't come from a "community" with a record of generating most of the city's raping, stealing, and murdering. Those are stats, by the way, not assertions. Don't I have a right to start asking hard questions?

The missing point here, folks, is that when it comes to "Divide & Conquer" - if you think that maybe that's not happening here, you never asked how two airplanes can knock down three buildings; you should not waste your time (and others') dilly-dallying with political issues - there IS indeed DIVIDING going on!

Guess what: until we start a frank and open talk about the insane rate of black on white crime you're just not going to find young people accepting your point of view, in Mississippi or anywhere else.

You're going to have people from places such as Berkeley question things you thought you had nailed down -- because it's time to have a debate that goes beyond shame, built, and mendacity and the only way to make people drop the lazy minded nonsense they've been spouting is to say something shocking enough to stop them in their tracks...

Hello, could I please have the names of the respondents calling for illegal? I plan to gun them down in cold blood...because that's the right thing to do. Deep in all your hearts, you know I'm right.-rufus

" but regional data for the South (Altman & Klinker*) indicates that, even ten years ago, 86% of whites and 98% of non-whites supported legal interracial marriage. If that's representative of MS, too,"

Everybody says there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY white country and ONLY into white countries.

The Netherlands and Belgium are just as crowded as Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them.

Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY white country and ONLY white countries to “assimilate,” i.e., intermarry, with all those non-whites.

What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-blacks were brought into EVERY black country and ONLY into black countries?

How long would it take anyone to realize I’m not talking about a RACE problem. I am talking about the final solution to the BLACK problem?

And how long would it take any sane black man to notice this and what kind of psycho black man wouldn’t object to this?

But if I tell that obvious truth about the ongoing program of genocide against my race, the white race, Liberals and respectable conservatives agree that I am a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews.

"PPP surveyed 400 usual Mississippi Republican primary voters from March 24th to 27th.The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.9%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewedand weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify."

... so about 184 people, likely from the same area, think interracial marriage is wrong.

@McClarinJ: As a matter of historical fact Democrats moving into the Republican party in the the 60's created the Southern Republican party as a viable political organization. That shift was based on exactly the sort of racism that this poll reveals.

The Republican party in the South is founded on racism. This poll does nothing more than demonstrate that it has NOT outgrown that shameful history.

"An inspection of your website (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/surveys.asp) shows that you have published at least a dozen Republican polls since March 1 and only one Democratic poll during that time."

Yeah, that's because we poll the GOP primary for president (and any other offices) in every state, and there are few contested Democratic primaries. The action's on the GOP side, since Democrats have so much turf to defend for Senate and, of course, president.

"I have to question your sincerity that you will actually publish the Democratic party members content at a later time."

We're not going to just publish the numbers for Democrats, but for everyone.

"When you wise-crack, belittle, or otherwise make fun of the subjects of your poll or those of us who comment, I believe it erodes your credibility as an unbiased journalist."

based on the disclaimer "Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify." I would like to see the actual number of individuals that actually answered each question. Being a biased pollster, I'm sure you weighed everything in your favor.

Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln were right. Not deporting them back to Africa was a huge mistake."__________________________________

Hello Sir,

As a career soldier who fought in the Gulf War and served with brave men and women of various ethnic backgrounds; I am always (but maybe I shouldn't be) taken aback at comments -- "such as the above", targeted toward fellow Americans. Sometimes we as Americans lose perspective of patriotism and just simple humanity. I invite you to visit a VA hospital and meet some of the disabled soldiers and Veterans -- men, women, black, white, brown, yellow, etc. Why?

1) It is a way to say thank you for your Service.2) You may realize just how lucky(blessed) you are to have sight, limbs,and freedom to express your opinion.3) I think you may find the unimportance of a fellow American's race -- As a Service Disabled Vet, I do.

Several years ago, while in college, I took a course in Genetics. I learned that a couple cannot, under any circumstances, have a white baby if the parents are from different races. This includes Asian and African mixed marriages. If you love your white heritage, as I do, this is a no-brainer.

To address the commentator above:

Interesting comment; Did you know Eddie and Alex Van Halen are half Asian? Thank God their parents married and had kids.

Thing is, with republicans, at least they let you know where they stand, it's the democrats who hide it......most white democrats are the most racist of all, but they are so good at disguising it and fooling black people UNO voting for them, only to control black people with their social programs and keep them from bettering themselves and their community.......... Its no coincidence that black america us no better off than they were 60 years ago, and democrats have controlled this country the majority of that time......

From what I have seen. The white people are becoming stronger voices that stick together and they use the bible as their reason for all their ignorance. Where are the black people to stand up for themselves? Go to the Facebook page WTOK. an abc news station and follow the opinions of what MS feels about what's going on locally. There are very few black people who post there but a ton of white racist republicans who voice their opinions of the bible says this and the bible says that. It's so slanted that I get tired of having 10 bible thumpers beating up on me for giving an educated opinion. There needs to be an education movement in the south.

THIS IS SOOO STUPID.....Y IS THAT EVERY TIME SOMETHING NEW IS COMMING TO MISSISSIPPI, THEY MANAGE TO KEEP IT OL' FASHION SO THEY CAN FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE THE POWER???? I AM SOO SICK AND TIRED OF THESE STUPID REPUBLICAN PPL IN MISSISSIPPI TRYING TO RUIN EVERYTHING.....THEY DONT EVEN LIKE THE FACT THAT THERE R GAY PPL INTERRACIAL COUPLES AND DIFFRENT RACES THERE!!!! ALL OF THOSE OLD PPL NEED TO RETIRED AND GET SOME PPL THAT LOVES THE STATE AND WANT TO MAKE CHANGES AND BRING BUSINESSES LIKE ANY OTHER CITIES AND STATES DO, THINGS WILL BE GREAT!!!! I BELIEVE ALL OF THOSE REPUBICANS R NUTHING BUT KKKs OR SKULL N BONES SOCIETY PPL THAT DONT WANT A BLACK PERSON TO CHANGE THINGS IN THERE........FOR GODS SAKE, THEY TRYING TO GET RID OF THE BLACK AND INTERRACIAL PPL IN MISSISSIPPI!!!!! NO WONDER THAT GUY ON HBO WHO HAVE A TALK SHOW HAD A MAP SAYING MISSISSIPPI IS THE #3 DUMBEST STATE TO TRY AND MAKE SOMETHING SOOOO DAMN SMALL A HUGE MISUNDERSTANDING......ALL THOSE WHITE PPL TRYING TO GET ALOT OF MONEY BY NOT DOING SOMETHING CREATIVE, NOT SUPPORTING ANY SCHOOL THROUGHOUT THEIR STATE, AND THEY DIDNT TAKE THE MONEY THAT OBAMA WAS GIVING TO KEEP KIDS IN SCHOOL, PPL THEIR JOBS, AND MORE!!! HALEY BARBOUR DONT NEED TO BE THE PRESIDENT!!!!!!! HE WILL TURN AGAINST HIS OWN PPL AND EVERY RACE, TOO. HE IS LIVING GOOD, BUYING HOUSES, EXPENSIVE CARS, CLOTHES, FOOD, PROBABLY GOT A 245 ACRE HOME WHILE WE LIVING IN LOW INCOME APT AND NOT GETTING PAY ENOUGH, NOT TO MENTION, SOME WHITE PPL DONT WANT US ALIVE N TRYING TO TAUGHT US WITH THEIR RACIAL WORDS N STUFF. NEXT THING U KNOW, HE WILL COME OUT WITH A BILL SAYING BLACK PPL CANT VOTE, GO TO SCHOOL, GET A JOB, DATING, ETC,.....JUST DUMB CRAZY ASS SHIT!!!!! I WISH THERE WAS A BLACK MAN MAKING A CHANGE 8IN MISSISSIPPI......IT WILL HAVE ALOT OF PPL UNDERSTAND TO FIGHT FOR SOMETHING YOU LOVE. IM FROM MISSISSIPPI, BUT IT MAKES ME NOT WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE AT ALL. I SEE WHY PPL MOVED TO TEXAS, MINNESOTA, MICHIGAN,AND EVEN CANADA. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HALEY BARBOUR AND I HOPE THE PPL IN MISSISSIPPI WILL DO THEIR HOMEWORK ON THIS GUY N MAYBE THEY KNO WHO WILL BE THE PRESIDENT. I RATHER LET DONAL TRUMP RUN FOR PRESIDENT......AT LEAST HE CARES ABOUT HIS COUNTRY AND THE DIFFRENT RACES BEING THERE.

What you have to realize is, until about the mid to late 1950's interracial dating was a felony. MS was one of the last states to drop this law. Until people actually get out and vote, how can we expect anything different? Instead of sitting back and letting something that ignorant happen, VOTE! I love my black husband and my biracial children and I dare ANYONE to tell me anything different.

I am from Mississippi. I think it's definitely worth looking into the ages of the people who took part in this poll.

I know this is irrelevant to the actual article, but it is kind of in sync with some of the comments. Last year as high school senior when my class was told to choose sides for a gay marriage debate, everyone in the class but one person was IN FAVOR of gay marriage.

The young people of Mississippi think VERY differently than the older people. Just saying.

Those polled were asked to identify their age groups. Of the group polled (which seems small to be a representative sample), 12% were between the ages of 18-29, 20%were between 30-45, 36% were between 46-65, and 32% were older than 65. It's not a big jump to assume that more than half of those polled were over 50. That would account for the high percentage, and it's obviously. not a fair and realistic representation of the state as whole, or even Republicans as a whole. I'm also from Mississippi, and it seems our state now gets to be the racism scapegoat because our governor, Haley Barbour, might be running for president.

I think that the polling data for the questions as asked provide beneficial(if not disturbing)information. I think that the secondary inferences, not so much. The further you get from the actual question and try to compare the secondary inferences (the so called “cross tabs”) the less valid your results become. While the poll itself has a “Marge N. Overa” of 5% (indication of poor a poor poll quality in and of its self) the crosstab inferences have margins of error that in some cases exceed 20%. That is how you get skewed inferences such as 58% of self described “very liberal” and 74% of “somewhat liberal” respondents who think that interracial marriage should be illegal (compared to 42% and 45% for somewhat and very conservative respondents respectively). Why wasn’t the race of the respondents made available. I am sure that there were at least as many African Americans as there were very liberal respondents in this group.

I just think that this makes the argument for a closed primary system. Keep all of those closed minded bigoted schmucks (an invective I read on the Public policy Polling comments section) Democrats out of my primary for Pete’s sake.

I guess that next week we will be getting the break down on the social mores of the regular democratic primary voters.

The cross-tabs on Ideology and Interracial Marriage are hard for me to interpret: self-described "liberal" MS Republicans are *MORE* likely to think interracial marriage should be illegal, than moderates or conservatives.

(In any case, the results are truly staggering and appalling. So much for limited government being a hallmark of the Republican party. A plurality think government should say who you and cannot marry?!)

The numbers who are "liberal" or "very liberal" are TINY, around 16 people in each group (4% of 400). Pecentages are pointless. I'd have more confidence in this study if the raw numbers were presented.